2) How would you improve Patton Square Park?

The Friends of Patton Square Park are gathering information to help create a plan for enhancing the current play equipment in the park. They hope to hear from many Overlook residents and Patton Square Park users as they research how the park is currently used.

Please complete the survey by Thursday, Dec. 15. Your input will help create a project proposal to submit to Parks & Recreation.

Thank you in advance for your feedback! We’ll keep you informed of the project’s progress through this weekly update and the Overlook Views.

3) City to clear Forgotten Realms homeless camp

A fire broke out at the Forgotten Reams homeless camp in North Portland this week, damaging a neighboring home in the process. Forgotten Realms was a spinoff of Hazelnut Grove in the Overlook Neighborhood.

Following the fire, Mayor Charlie Hales office announced plans to shut down Forgotten Realms. Overlook resident Dirk VanderHart reported the news in the Portland Mercury. His story cited a spokesperson for Hales’ office:

“I think, because of the public safety concerns after the fire, that that property will not be allowed to be camped on anymore,” says Brian Worley, a spokesperson for Hales. “There are liability issues of unsanctioned camps being set up.”

There is still no word about shutting down or relocating the unsanctioned camp at Hazelnut Grove over liability issues despite the mayor’s pledge to do so by the end of this past October.

4) Protect your home’s plumbing this winter

Rain, ice and snow can play havoc with water pipes. The Portland Water Bureau offers a number of tips to help you make sure your pipes don’t freeze. Check them out online.

5) New book set on Swan Island

Author Diane Simmons has released “The Courtship of Eva Eldridge,” her new work of narrative nonfiction. The book tells the story a woman working in the shipyards during World War II. Simmons will hold two events in the new year for readers who’d like to meet her.

On Sunday, Jan. 8 at 2 p.m. at the Oregon Historical Society, she will talk about the archival research she did for the book.

On Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. at Another Read Through Bookstore, she will focus on the 800 letters found in an Eastern Oregon attic that led her to Eva’s story.

6) Portland Utility Board is recruiting members

The Portland Utility Board (PUB) is a citizen oversight body for the Portland Water Bureau and Bureau of Environmental Services and City Council management of these public utility bureaus. The board has 11 voting members and 3 ex-officio members. Members are appointed by the mayor, in consultation with the commissioner in charge.

The board’s purpose is to advise the City Council, on behalf of and for the benefit of the citizens of Portland, on the financial plans, capital improvements, annual budget development and rate setting for the City’s water, sewer, storm water and watershed services. In addition, the board advises council on the establishment of fair and equitable rates, consistent with balancing the goals of customer needs, legal mandates, existing public policies, such as protecting water quality and improving watershed health, operational requirements, and the long-term financial stability and viability of the utilities.